Peritoneal catheter

Abstract

A safer peritoneal catheter with improved non-plugging characteristics is disclosed. The catheter has very fine sidewall openings which generally have projections associated therewith which tend to prevent the openings from becoming clogged with tissue. The catheter and side holes are sized to facilitate removal of blood and liquids from the peritoneal cavity. The very fine sidewall openings enhance the reliability of the catheter while permitting it to have excellent strength and resistance to breakage.

We claim: 
     
       1. A catheter comprising: a thin-walled, hollow-bore tubular member having an opening on an extraction end, said tubular member having a hollow-bore diameter of from about 1.0 to about 3.5 millimeters and an external diameter of from about 2.0 to about 4.0 millimeters;   a plurality of sidewall openings in said tubular member, said openings having protrusions associated therewith protruding from the exterior sidewall, at least a substantial portion of said protrusions being longitudinally aligned with a substantial portion of said sidewall openings, said sidewall openings having a diameter of from about 0.01 to about 2.0 millimeters and said sidewall protrusions project from about 0.01 to about 1.0 millimeter from the exterior wall surface.   
     
     
       2. The catheter of claim 1 wherein said sidewall openings each have a substantially smaller cross-sectional area than the cross-sectional area of the longitudinal opening of the hollow-bore member. 
     
     
       3. The catheter of claim 1 wherein at least six to 100 sidewall openings are present. 
     
     
       4. The catheter of claim 1 wherein said tubular member has a length of from about 10 millimeters to about 25 millimeters. 
     
     
       5. The catheter of claim 1 wherein said protrusions substantially encircles at least a portion of said sidewall openings.